TPD could see 400 meth labs in 2011

TULSA - Tulsa Police expect to see a record-breaking number of meth labs this year. They say the epidemic of one-pot meth labs is to blame.

At the current pace, TPD could see more than 400 meth labs by the end of the year. Every one of those labs is costing the department money and resources.

In any given month, officers normally clean up between 30 to 40 meth labs.

In 2007, Tulsa Police worked only 20 meth labs. The very next year one-pot meth labs started showing up in northeast Oklahoma.

Last year, the number grew to 323 labs in Tulsa. So far this year there have been 278. That puts them on pace to reach 458 by the end of 2011.

Officer Leland Ashley said, "It takes a whole meth lab team to come and dispose of the labs and get rid of the chemicals. You're talking about a lot of dollars that are being spent because of these labs."

Ashley said not only are these labs a drain on resources, but they are also dangerous,

"They are real volatile," said Ashley.  "So at any moment that lab can explode and you've got someone who died, or a tremendous amount of property damage. So it's big concern for us. And we've got to find some way to stop it."

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics is seeing the same trend, with 533 labs so far this year statewide. The agency is hoping for legislation that would require a prescription for medications that contain pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in meth.

OBN spokesperson Mark Woodward said, "We 100 percent support another chance to pass this legislation."

A bill that would require a prescription for pseudoephedrine made it out of a legislative committee in 2011, but it was never assigned to be heard on the house floor.

Supporters of the bill believe the pharmaceutical lobby played a role in killing the legislation.

Woodward said, "Oregon passed a similar law five years ago and they saw meth labs almost disappear. They also saw the lowest crime rate the state seen in 50 years. Mississippi did the same thing last year and saw similar results. We can't ignore numbers like this."

The Speaker of the House recently approved a House interim study that will be led by Rep. Sue Tibbs (R) of Tulsa. The study will look further into the pros and cons of requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine.